Universal sharpening device for slicing machines with circular blade

ABSTRACT

A universal sharpening device for slicing machines with circular blade which comprises a supporting element, which is provided with elements for engaging the wing of a slicing machine, and an arm, which is associated with the supporting element and supports at least two grinding wheels. The arm is movable with respect to the supporting element from an inactive position, in which the grinding wheels are spaced from the blade of the slicing machine, to a first active position, in which one grinding wheel is moved into contact with the blade of the slicing machine, to a second active position, in which at least one other grinding wheel is moved into contact with the blade of the slicing machine.

The present invention relates to a universal sharpening device for slicing machines with circular blade.

As is known, the blade of slicing machines must be sharpened periodically so as to maintain its functionality.

In order to perform this operation without having to remove the blade, manual sharpening devices are available which are provided with a grinding wheel to be placed in contact with the blade during its rotation so that the grinding wheel performs progressively its action on the cutting edge of the blade.

These sharpening devices of the manual type have the drawback that they are not easy to use and cause the quality of the sharpening operation to depend on the skill of the operator.

Moreover, sharpening devices of the manual type have the drawback of exposing the operator to the risk of injury during sharpening.

Some types of slicing machine are provided with a sharpening device which is mounted stably on the machine and is provided with a grinding wheel which can be brought in contact with the blade when its sharpening is required.

Such sharpening devices, mounted on some slicing machines, have the drawback of being specific accessories and therefore can be used only on a very specific type of slicing machine. Moreover, these sharpening devices obtain results, in terms of sharpening quality, that are not always completely satisfactory.

The aim of the present invention is to solve the above mentioned problems, by providing a universal sharpening device for slicing machines with circular blade which can be installed simply and rapidly, in practically any slicing machine.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a sharpening device that ensures completely satisfactory results in terms of sharpening quality.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sharpening device that offers sufficient assurances of safety against the risk of injuries of the operator both during its mounting on the slicing machine and during sharpening.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by a universal sharpening device for slicing machines with circular blade, characterized in that it comprises:

-   -   a supporting element, which is provided with means for engaging         the wing of a slicing machine;     -   an arm, which is associated with said supporting element and         supports at least two grinding wheels;         said arm being movable with respect to said supporting element         from an inactive position, in which said grinding wheels are         spaced from the blade of the slicing machine, to a first active         position, in which one grinding wheel of said grinding wheels is         moved into contact with the blade of the slicing machine, to a         second active position, in which at least one other grinding         wheel of said grinding wheels is moved into contact with the         blade of the slicing machine

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the sharpening device according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of the sharpening device according to the invention applied to a slicing machine, which is shown in front view and only partially;

FIG. 2 is a view of the sharpening device according to the invention applied to a slicing machine, which is shown in a top plan view and only partially for the sake of simplicity;

FIG. 3 is a view of the sharpening device according to the invention, without the protective housing and applied to a slicing machine, which is shown in a side elevation view and only partially for the sake of simplicity;

FIG. 4 is an exploded top plan view of the sharpening device according to the invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded side elevation view of the sharpening device;

FIG. 6 is a view of the sharpening device according to the invention, with some elements removed in order to highlight the internal components and in an operating condition;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged-scale view of a detail of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of FIG. 6, taken along the line VIII-VIII;

FIG. 9 is a view of the sharpening device according to the invention similar to FIG. 6, but in another operating condition;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged-scale view of a detail of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of FIG. 9, taken along the line XI-XI.

With reference to the figures, the sharpening device according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 1, comprises a supporting element 2, which is provided with means 3 for engaging the wing 4 of a slicing machine The wing 4 is the component of slicing machines that is arranged laterally to the blade 5 and defines, with one face 6 thereof, a resting surface 7, substantially at right angles to the rotation axis 8 of the blade 5, against which one end of the product to be cut is rested, generally arranged on a carriage which can move, in relation to the blade 5, with a reciprocating motion along a direction which is parallel to the resting surface 7 and at right angles to the rotation axis 8 of the blade 5, so as to make the product slide on the resting surface 7 and submit it cyclically to the action of the blade 5, which cuts it in slices. The wing 4 is generally mounted, so as it can slide, along guides which are oriented parallel to the rotation axis 8 of the blade 5, and its position along these guides can be adjusted with extreme precision, generally by means of a fine adjustment device which can be actuated by means of a knob, so as to vary the distance of the resting surface 7, defined by the wing 4, from the plane of arrangement of the blade 5. The distance is equal to the thickness of the slice of product that is cut by the blade 5 in each instance.

The sharpening device 1 also comprises an arm 9, which is associated with the supporting element 2 and supports at least two grinding wheels 10, 11. The arm 9 is movable with respect to the supporting element 2 from an inactive position, in which the grinding wheels 10, 11 are spaced from the blade 5 of the slicing machine, so as to not interfere with it, to a first active position, in which one of the grinding wheels 10, 11 is moved into contact with the blade 5 of the slicing machine, to a second active position, in which another of the grinding wheels 10, 11 is moved into contact with the blade 5 of the slicing machine

Preferably, the sharpening device 1 is provided with three grinding wheels 10, 11, 12, respectively: a roughing wheel 10, a finishing wheel 11 and a trimming wheel 12. The roughing wheel 10 and the finishing wheel 11 are supported by the arm 9 and can engage a same side of the blade 5 of the slicing machine as an alternative to each other, respectively when the arm 9 is in the first active position and when the arm 9 is in the second active position, as will become better apparent hereinafter. The trimming wheel 12 is mounted on the supporting element 2 and, when the arm 9 is in the second active position, can engage the side of the blade 5 of the slicing machine that is opposite with respect to the side contacted by the finishing wheel 11.

Essentially, the finishing wheel 11 and the trimming wheel 12 can be engaged simultaneously with the two opposite sides of the blade 5.

More precisely, the supporting element 2 comprises a substantially U-shaped body 13 designed to be arranged against the face 6 of the wing 4 that defines the resting surface 7 for the product to be sliced.

In an intermediate region of its extension, located in the connecting region of the two wings of the U-shape, an arm 14 is connected to the body 13, protrudes laterally to the body 13 and is designed to face the face 15 of the wing 4 that is opposite with respect to the face 6 that defines the resting surface 7. The means 3 for engaging the supporting element 2 with the wing 4 comprise two locators 16, 17, which are mutually spaced and arranged at the two ends of the body 13 and can be arranged against the curved profile 4 a of the wing 4 that faces the cutting edge of the blade 5. The locators 16, 17 rest not only against the curved profile 4 a of the wing 4 but also against the face 6 that defines the resting surface 7. The means 3 for engaging the supporting element 2 with the wing 4 comprise, moreover, a screw 18, which is supported by the arm 14, proximate to its end that lies opposite with respect to the end connected to the body 13, and can be engaged against the face 15 of the wing 4 that lies opposite with respect to the face 6 that defines the resting surface 7. Stable locking of the supporting element 2 on the wing 4 is obtained by means of the simple tightening of the screw 18 against this face 15 of the wing 4.

The arm 9 is provided like a rocker, in the sense that it is pivoted, with an intermediate portion, to the supporting element 2 about a main axis 20. The arm 9 supports, proximate to its ends, which are mutually opposite with respect to the main axis 20, the roughing wheel 10 and the finishing wheel 11. The arm 9 can rotate about the main axis 20 with respect to the supporting element 2 in one direction in order to be arranged in the first active position, and in the opposite direction in order to be arranged in the second active position. The inactive position corresponds to a rotational position of the arm 9 that is arranged between the rotational positions that correspond to the first active position and to the second active position.

In greater detail, the body 13 of the supporting element 2 has, on one of its two portions, a pivot 21 which is fixed rigidly to the body 13. The pivot 21 defines, with its axis, the main axis 20 and, with the supporting element 2 fixed stably to the wing 4, as described above, the main axis 20 is arranged substantially at right angles to the resting surface 7, i.e., substantially parallel to the rotation axis 8 of the blade 5.

The arm 9 has, in an intermediate region of its extension, a seat 22 that couples, so that it can rotate, about the pivot 21, which protrudes, with one of its axial ends, from the seat 22. This end is crossed transversely by a grub 23 which is integral with the pivot 21. Three recessed seats 24, 25, 26 are formed on the region of the arm 9 that faces this grub 23, are mutually spaced angularly around the main axis 20 and can be engaged alternatively with the grub 23 following the rotation of the arm 9 about the main axis 20 in relation to the supporting element 2. The three recessed seats 24, 25, 26 define the three positions in which the arm 9 can be arranged in relation to the supporting element 2 by means of its rotation about the main axis 20.

The arm 9, besides being able to rotate about the main axis 20, can also slide along the pivot 21 in relation to the supporting element 2 in contrast with or by the action of elastic means.

More precisely, the arm 9 is fixed, for example by means of a pair of screws 27, to a control knob 28, which faces the end of the pivot 21 on which the grub 23 is provided. The elastic means cited above are constituted by a spring 29, which is interposed between this end of the pivot 21 and the control knob 28. By pressing the control knob 28 it is possible to cause the sliding of the arm 9 in relation to the supporting element 2 along the main axis 20 of the pivot 21 in order to actuate the disengagement of the recessed seats 24, 25, 26 from the grub 23, and this movement is contrasted by the spring 29, which tends to return the arm 9 to the initial position and therefore to return the recessed seats 24, 25, 26 into engagement with the grub 23. By rotating the control knob 28, the arm 9 rotates about the main axis 20 with respect to the pivot 21 and therefore it is possible to vary the recessed seat with which the grub 23 engages. The engagement of one of the recessed seats 24, 25, 26 with the grub 23 ensures that the arm 9 is kept in the inactive position or in the first active position or in the second active position.

The roughing wheel 10 and the finishing wheel 11 are conveniently constituted by disk-shaped grinding wheels, preferably of the diamond type, which have a peripheral annular portion made of abrasive material, designed to make contact with a peripheral band of the blade 5. The grinding wheels 10, 11 are supported, so that they can rotate about the corresponding axes 30, 31, proximate to the ends of the arm 9 that are mutually opposite with respect to the main axis 20.

Advantageously, the axes 30, 31 of the roughing wheel 10 and of the finishing wheel 11 are inclined, on mutually opposite sides, with respect to an imaginary plane 33 that passes through the main axis 20 and through the rotation axis 8 of the blade 5 with reference to the sharpening device 1 mounted correctly on the wing 4 of the slicing machine. Because of this, the roughing wheel 10 and the finishing wheel 11, when moved into contact with the blade 5, are dragged rotationally by the rotation of the blade 5 with mutually opposite directions of rotation.

The trimming wheel 12 also is constituted by a disk-like grinding wheel provided with a peripheral annular portion made of abrasive material designed to make contact with a peripheral band of the blade 5 on the side thereof that is opposite with respect to the side designed to be contacted by the roughing wheel 10 and by the finishing wheel 11.

The trimming wheel 12 is supported, so that it can rotate about its own axis 32, which is substantially parallel to the main axis 20, by the supporting element 2. The trimming wheel 12, moreover, can slide, with respect to the supporting element 2, along its own axis 32 in contrast with or by the action of elastic means, constituted by a spring 34 which is interposed between the shaft 35 of the trimming wheel 12 and the supporting element 2, and spacer means are provided which act on the trimming wheel 12 in contrast with the spring 34 in order to keep the trimming wheel 12 disengaged from the blade 5 when the arm 9 is in the first active position. The spacer means are deactivated when the arm 9 is moved into the second active position, i.e., when the finishing wheel 11 is moved into contact with the blade 5.

More precisely, the trimming wheel 12 is fixed to one end of the shaft 35, which is supported, so that it can rotate about its own axis and slide along the same axis, which constitutes the axis 32 of the trimming wheel 12, by an arm 36, which is fixed rigidly to the supporting element 2. A plate 37 is fixed to the opposite end of the shaft 35 and the spacer means engage against it. The spacer means are constituted by a cam element 38, which is pivoted to the same arm 36 about an axis 39 which is parallel to the main axis 20. The spring 34 is arranged around the shaft 35 and is interposed between the arm 36 and the trimming wheel 12 so as to contrast the axial movement of the trimming wheel 12 away from the blade 5 of the slicing machine.

The arm 9 engages, with a fork-like portion, a prong 40 which is connected to the cam element 38, which is shaped so as to cause, as a consequence of its rotation about the axis 39 with respect to the supporting element 2, the axial movement of the trimming wheel 12 away from the blade 5 in contrast with the action of the spring 34.

In practice, the cam element 38 has a shape with an inclined plane or in any case such as to cause the movement of the trimming wheel 12 away from the blade 5, in contrast with the action of the spring 34, when the arm 9 is in the first active position, so that the trimming wheel 12 does not make contact with the blade 5, and so as to allow the movement of the trimming wheel 12 toward the blade 5, by means of the action of the spring 34, when the arm 9 is moved into the second active position, i.e., when the finishing wheel 11 is moved into contact with the opposite face of the blade 5.

The components of the sharpening device 1 are conveniently protected by a protective housing 41 which is fixed to the supporting element 2. In the housing 41 there is a window 42 through which the control knob 28 passes. Proximate to the window 42 reference notches 43 can be provided, which indicate the arrangement of the arm 9 in the inactive position or in the first active position or in the second active position.

For the sake of descriptive completeness, it should be noted that the grinding wheels 10, 11, 12 are fixed to the end of corresponding shafts 44, 45, 35, which are supported respectively by the arm 9 and by the arm 36 by means of bushes 46, 47, 48 and are locked axially by means of corresponding screws 49, 50, 51. The arm 9 is rigidly connected to the control knob 28 by means of a pair of posts 52, 53.

A further window 54 closed by a removable plug 55 can be provided in a region of the protective housing 41.

The other elements illustrated for the sake of completeness in the figures are not described in detail because their function is evident from the figures. There are in fact mainly screws for the assembly of the various elements that compose the sharpening device 1 and have already been described above.

Operation of the sharpening device 1 according to the invention is as follows.

When one wants to sharpen the blade 5, the wing 4 is moved away, using the same device of the slicing machine that makes it possible to vary the thickness of the slices, from the plane of arrangement of the blade 5 so as to create between the blade 5 and the wing 4 a space that allows the installation of the sharpening device 1. The sharpening device 1 is then connected to the wing 4 as already described by resting the locators 16 and 17 against the curved profile 4 a of the wing 4 and by tightening the screw 18 against the face 15 of the wing 4.

The installation of the sharpening device 1 on the slicing machine is performed with the arm 9 in the inactive position, i.e., with the grub 23 engaged with the recessed seat 25 that is arranged between the recessed seats 24 and 26. With the sharpening device 1 installed on the slicing machine and with the arm 9 in the inactive position, none of the grinding wheels 10, 11, 12 is engaged with the blade 5.

Then one proceeds by arranging the arm 9 in the first active position, pressing the control knob 28 so as to disengage the grub 23 from the recessed seat 25 and rotating the control knob 28 in one direction so as to arrange the recessed seat 24, which corresponds to the first active position of the arm 9, at the grub 23 and by then releasing the control knob 28 so that the spring 29 moves the recessed seat 24 into engagement with the grub 23. The passage of the arm 9 from the inactive position to the first active position moves the roughing wheel 10 into contact with the peripheral region of the blade 5 proximate to the cutting edge, while the finishing wheel 11 is moved further away from the blade 5 and the trimming wheel 12 is kept spaced from the blade 5 by the cam element 38. With the arm 9 in this first active position, shown in particular in FIGS. 6 to 8, the roughing wheel 10 performs a first strong sharpening operation on the blade 5.

Subsequently, one acts again on the control knob 28, pressing it and rotating it in the opposite direction with respect to the direction of rotation imposed previously, so as to arrange the recessed seat 26, which corresponds to the second active position of the arm 9, at the grub 23 and then releasing the control knob 28 so that through the action of the spring 29 the arm 9 engages, by means of the recessed seat 26, the grub 23. The transition of the arm 9 into the second active position causes the movement of the roughing wheel 10 away from the blade 5 and moves the finishing wheel 11 into contact with the peripheral region of the blade 5 proximate to the cutting edge, on which the roughing wheel 10 has already worked, performing precision sharpening of the blade 5.

With the arm 9 in the second active position, shown in particular in FIGS. 9 to 11, since in the transition from the inactive position to the second active position the cam element 38 allows the trimming wheel 12 to slide along its own axis 32 with respect to the supporting element 2 until it arrives, due to the action of the spring 34, against the opposite face of the blade 5, the trimming wheel 12 also makes contact with the peripheral region of the blade 5 proximate to the cutting edge, but on the opposite side with respect to the side that is contacted by the finishing wheel 11. In this manner, the trimming wheel 12 removes burr, created by the action of the roughing wheel 10 and of the finishing wheel 11, on the opposite site of the blade 5.

It should be noted that the sharpening performed by the finishing wheel 11 is performed with a direction of rotation that is opposite with respect to the direction of rotation with which the sharpening was performed by the roughing wheel 10 and therefore an extremely precise and high-quality sharpening is obtained which also avoids an increase in the roughness of the face of the blade 5 that is designed to make contact with the product and therefore also improves the quality of the cutting operation.

At the end of the sharpening, the arm 9, by acting on the control knob 28, is returned to the inactive position.

In practice it has been found that the sharpening device according to the invention fully achieves the intended aim, since it can be installed simply and quickly in practically all currently commercially available slicing machines and ensures fully satisfactory results which are better, in terms of sharpening quality, than those obtainable with sharpening devices of the known type.

The sharpening device thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims All the details may further be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to requirements and to the state of the art.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. MI2011A001122 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly, such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs. 

1-8. (canceled)
 9. A universal sharpening device for slicing machines with circular blade, comprising: a supporting element, which is provided with means for engaging the wing of a slicing machine; an arm, which is associated with said supporting element and supports at least two grinding wheels; said arm being movable with respect to said supporting element from an inactive position, in which said grinding wheels are spaced from the blade of the slicing machine, to a first active position, in which one grinding wheel of said grinding wheels is moved into contact with the blade of the slicing machine, to a second active position, in which at least one other grinding wheel of said grinding wheels is moved into contact with the blade of the slicing machine.
 10. The sharpening device according to claim 9, further comprising three grinding wheels: a roughing wheel, a finishing wheel and a trimming wheel; said roughing wheel and said finishing wheel being mounted on said arm and being engageable with a same side of the blade of the slicing machine as an alternative to each other, respectively with said arm in said first active position and with said arm in said second active position; said trimming wheel being engageable with the side of the blade of the slicing machine that is opposite with respect to the side contacted by said finishing wheel, with said arm in said second active position.
 11. The sharpening device according to claim 10, wherein said arm is provided like a rocker which is pivoted, with an intermediate portion, to said supporting element about a main axis; said arm supporting, proximate to its ends, which are mutually opposite with respect to said main axis, said roughing wheel and said finishing wheel and being able to rotate about said main axis with respect to said supporting element in one direction in order to be arranged in said first active position and in the opposite direction in order to be arranged in said second active position, said inactive position corresponding to a rotational position of said arm which is located between the rotational positions that correspond to said first active position and to said second active position.
 12. The sharpening device according to claim 11, wherein said engagement means can engage two opposite faces of the wing and are adapted to keep said supporting element stably engaged with the wing and arranged so that said main axis is substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the blade.
 13. The sharpening device according to claim 10, wherein said trimming wheel is supported slidingly by said supporting element along a direction that is substantially parallel to said main axis, means being provided for spacing said trimming wheel from the blade of the slicing machine in contrast with elastic return means; said arm being connected to said spacer means for the deactivation of said spacer means when said arm passes into said second active position.
 14. The sharpening device according to claim 9, wherein said engagement means comprise: a pair of locators, which are mutually spaced and can engage a curved profile of the wing that faces a cutting edge of the blade, said locators being arrangeable so as to rest against a face of the wing that lies on a plane that is substantially perpendicular to a rotation axis of the blade; a contrast screw, which can be tightened against an opposite face of the wing.
 15. The sharpening device according to claim 9, wherein each one of said grinding wheels has a disk-like shape with a peripheral annular portion that is designed to make contact with a peripheral band of the blade.
 16. The sharpening device according to claim 10, wherein said trimming wheel and said finishing wheel are supported rotatably about the corresponding axes by said arm and in that axes of said roughing wheel and of said finishing wheel are inclined, on mutually opposite sides, with respect to an imaginary plane that passes through a rotation axis of the blade and said main axis, with said supporting element connected to the wing of the slicing machine. 